Ryan Haynes / Android Authority
summary
The Google Pixel 9 smartphone now lets you view battery charge cycle information. The feature first appeared on the Pixel 8 smartphone earlier this year, but was removed after the March 2024 update. It has since appeared on the Pixel 8a. It’s also been years since Apple first offered charge cycle information on an iPhone.
Update, August 21, 2024 (2:04 PM EST): This article originally incorrectly stated that the Pixel 9 series was the first Pixel to bring back the battery information section within Android Settings. However, the feature returned to the Google Pixel 8a, meaning the Pixel 9 is the first mainline Pixel to have the feature out of the box. We’ve adjusted the article below to reflect this.
Original article, August 21, 2024 (1:00 PM ET): It’s been a long time since Google first confirmed that it would be bringing battery cycle information to Android. The feature was briefly shown on the Pixel 8 series earlier this year, but was then pulled. It eventually made it onto the Google Pixel 8a, but mysteriously never returned to the mainline series. Thankfully, the Pixel 9 series now has the feature out of the box.
We’ve confirmed that Pixel 9 phones have a battery information screen that can be accessed by tapping Settings > About phone > Battery info. This page shows the battery’s manufacture date, date of first use, and (yes) the number of charge cycles.


Phone batteries naturally lose some capacity over time as they are repeatedly charged and discharged. However, the pace of this loss varies from phone to phone. For example, the iPhone 15 series loses 20% of its rated capacity after 1,000 charging cycles, while the OnePlus 12 loses 20% of its usable capacity after 1,600 charging cycles. We’ve reached out to Google about the Pixel 9’s charging cycles and will update the article accordingly.
Either way, the significant battery degradation will be felt in the real world: for example, a phone that previously lasted two days may now only have a 1.5 day battery life, or a phone that previously lasted all day may need to be charged as soon as you get off work.
So the ability to see charge cycle information is useful because it helps you determine if your phone’s battery has deteriorated badly and needs replacing, or if there’s another problem. Phones that only have a few charge cycles don’t need to have their batteries replaced anytime soon unless they’re defective. Either way, Google is catching up with Apple, which has been offering charge cycle information for several years now.
Google is expected to step things up a notch with the introduction of a diagnostics tool in Android 15. In addition to the charge cycle information shown in the screenshot above, the tool will also show the available capacity of your battery, giving you more insight into how it’s aging. The diagnostics tool can also test different components if you suspect other hardware issues.

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